Truth Magazine

By Cecil Willis

As a basis of this subject I cite your attention to 1 Jno. 3:4, which reads, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.” If there is a definition of sin in the Bible, we have it in the last clause of this verse: “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Of course, it means the transgression of God’s law. God’s law may be transgressed by thought; by feeling, by words, or by actions, for as we learn from other portions of the Word of God, there are wicked thoughts, wicked feelings, wicked words, and wicked actions. This definition is not exhaustive, but it is sufficient for our present purpose.

While all of us sin; we obviously fail to recognize the enormity of sin. I believe I would esteem above every other gift that could be bestowed upon me as a preacher, the power adequately to conceive what sin is, and adequately to set it before the people. It is impossible for us to relate the enormity of sin for two reasons: First, a failure on our own part to realize the greatness of it and second, our inability to gather up such words and such figures of speech, as would with any sufficiency, set it forth to our hearers. The pleasures of sin have blinded our eyes to its enormity.

After considerable reflection on the matter, I am persuaded that the only accurate gauge which we have with which to measure the enormity and heinousness of sin, is the punishment that God has decreed against it. God is infinite, unlimited, in all His attributes; infinite in love, in mercy, in compassion, but when we find the terrible punishment which the likewise infinite justice of God necessitated that He metes out to man because of sin, then we can have some concept of God’s reaction and feeling toward the greatness of sin. Paul said in a discussion of the Law of Moses, that the Law was given “That through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful” (Rom. 7:13).

Many are the unpleasant things which befall man in this life which come as a consequence of man’s sin and disrespect of God’s law. From its earliest history, the world has been ladened with a vast burden of woe and pain and death. The journey of human life is strewn with tears; the whole earth on which we live has become dotted with cemeteries. Death, preceded by incalculable pains of the body, the whole period of the life filled with interchanging smiles and tears, anguish of hearts relieved by times of joy and happiness, have been our history. “Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin” (Rom. 5:12). All of this pain and woe, Paul said is caused by sin. It is a punishment the infinite God laid upon man- because of his sin.

While we experience these discomfitures here because of sin, without the aid of revelation, the nature, extent, duration, and the severity of any punishment that might be suffered hereafter would be the subject of simple conjecture. All the details would be left in the dark. We must depend upon revelation for the answer to our questions concerning the matter. To it then we turn, and the question set before us divides itself into some four points. First, “Is there any punishment for the wicked after death?” Second, “Is there a future, final and universal judgment, such as we have heard of?” Third, “What is to follow in the way of punishment, if anything, after that universal judgment?” Fourth, “How long, if there is such punishment after the judgment day, will it continue?”

First, “Is there then any punishment after death ?” Notice particularly Luke 12:4, where Jesus addressing his disciples, said, “My friends, be not afraid of them who kill the body, but after that have nothing more they can do.” They can take your body and burn it and dismember it, but that does not hurt your soul. They have no more that they can do which inflicts any pain upon you. “But,” He continued, “I will forewarn you whom to fear. Fear Him who after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell.” Furthermore, in Luke 16, the rich man died (verse 22), and in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment in the flame, so there definitely is punishment after death for the alien, and unfaithful.

Secondly, “Is there, according to the Word of God, and beyond all uncertainties of interpretation, and all questions about the meaning of words, such a final judgment as we have been taught to believe?” The word “judgment” is used and applied many times to judgments that occur here on earth. Many imagine that this is the only use of the term. But the Apostle told us in Heb. 9:27, “that it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment.” In addition then to all the judgments on earth, there is a final judgment that comes after death. This judgment will be universal in its nature. “So then each one of us shall give account of himself unto God” (Rom. 14:12). “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall he sit upon the throne of His glory and all nations shall be gathered before him” (Matt. 25:31; Jno. 5:28,29). “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne” (Rev. 20:12). So the judgment following death will be final and universal in its nature.

What is to follow in the way of punishment, if anything? Rationally speaking, were there no punishment provided there would be no point in having a judgment. God’s infinite justice necessitates punishment to those who have violated His infinite holiness by disobeying His righteous commands. Do you remember how this punishment is set forth in the Bible? “Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). Everlasting Fire! A lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The most excruciating torture, I believe, that human flesh can experience, is to be burned with fire, and that represents this suffering after the judgment. Furthermore he said, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 25:30). Men gnash their teeth only, when they are enraged against themselves, when they are tormented with anguish and self-reproach. Such then, is the answer to our third question. “Will there be any punishment after the final judgment?”

Now finally, how long will that punishment which comes after the judgment, and which is described in these horrid terms, endure? How long shall the punishment last? Christ stamped the word “eternal” upon the duration of the sinner’s punishment. “And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal’ life” (Matt. 25:46). Eternal punishment for some and eternal reward for others. There are people who would tell you that the reward for the righteous will last forever, but the reward of the wicked will be completed at death. In other words, death is the final and complete punishment. Annihilation is the punishment for the sinner, but remember, the Lord said “eternal punishment” and “eternal life.” If “eternal” life means forever, then “eternal” punishnient means for the same duration. We know from their meanings that there is no end for either.

We see then God’s infinite hatred of sin by the fact that he is going to punish the sinner with everlasting punishment in the lake of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. How is it, then, that a man or woman, can consent to live in sin day by day and still realize the awful consequence of such a life? Knowing that they shall incur this awful penalty, that if they were to die today, this would be their unending fate, how can they fail to reproach themselves for being sinners, and to fly away from it to the only means of escape found in Christ Jesus our Lord?

But thanks be to His blessed name; however, great the sins committed, however numerous they are, and however just the awful sentence that has been passed against us, there is a way of escape. This is had by obedience to the terms laid down in the gospel of Christ. “Repent and be baptized, everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). There is salvation through no other means, so we must be saved by obedience to the gospel.

Truth Magazine, XX:1, p. 3-4
January 1, 1976

By F. W. Grosheide

Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians

This commentary is a part of the New International Commentary series presently being edited by F.F. Bruce. Although I have only seen one volume of this set, the set comes to me highly recommended by both liberal and conservative scholars. Grosheide’s commentary on First Corinthians manifests detailed study of the original text and insight, into the- internal relationships of the book. I was particularly impressed with the treatment of 1 Cor. 8-10 by the professor of New Testament in the Free University of Amsterdam. There are some portions of the book with which I found myself in disagreement (such as his definition of tongue speaking and treatment of 1 Cor. 13). Too, he writes from a Calvinistic point of view. Nevertheless, the book brings out enough useful material on the book that it is well worth its price.

Faith, Psychology and Christian Maturity

by Millard J. Sall.

Zondervan Publishing House. Price $5.95

I recently reviewed a book entitled The Christian Counsellor’s Manual by Jay E. Adams which took the position that Christianity had little use for today’s psychologists and psychiatrists. This book by a practicing clinical psychologist presents an opposite point of view; Sall believes that Christianity and psychology are, complementary to each other and not antagonistic. He believes the approach which says’ emotional problems are caused by sin is somewhat shallow; instead, he believes that they are caused by an abuse of one’s defense mechanisms (I am not sure that these two positions are in conflict with one another). At any rate, the book will be thought provoking to you. There are some concessions to psychology in it that .I personally am unwilling to make.

Genesis: A Study Guide

by Leon J. Wood

Zondervan Publishing House. Price $1.95.

This paperback study guide to the book of Genesis provides an excellent outline of the book and a brief summary of its contents. Not intended to be an exhaustive commentary, this small book (152 pp.) is useful to help the everyday Christian grasp the first book of the Bible. Though there are traces of Calvinism in the book, the doctrines are not given so prominent an emphasis to cause me not to recommend it. This book can be a useful tool for classroom or private study.

Genesis And Early Man

by Arthur C. Custance

Zondervan Publishing House. Price $8.95.

This book is Volume II of a set entitled The Doorway Papers. This is the only volume of the planned ten volume set which I have seen but, if it is characteristic of the first and forthcoming volumes, it will constitute one of the most devastating attacks on the evolutionary hypothesis which I have seen. Custance holds a Ph.D. degree in anthropology and, thus, stands qualified to speak on the subject concerning which he is writing. In this volume, he treats the problem of fossil remains of early man as related to the record of Genesis, a look at the historical origin of primitive cultures, the IQ of early man, the supposed evolution of the human skull, and other subjects. One of Custance’s comments confirmed what many of us who are unqualified as experts have charged concerning the present prejudicial acceptance of evolution; he said, “But when a theory which is tentative is presented as fact, it no longer serves to inspire questions but rather to predetermine answers. To my mind, this is the present position of evolutionary theory. It has become ‘fact’ and to challenge it is to run the risk of excommunication. In Medieval times, too, excommunication was one of the penalties for challenging the accepted view of :things. At that time the test of whether any new theory was true or false was, as John Randall points out, whether it fitted harmoniously into the orthodox systems of belief and not whether it could be verified by experiment. This is exactly the position today; ecclesiastical dogma has been replaced by biological dogma which, as ‘dogma,’ has been detrimental to the truth” (p. 75).

Although this book is detailed and not light reading, the person who wants to be qualified to speak on evolution should acquaint himself with it.

Salute To A Sufferer

by Leslie D. Weatherhead.

Abingdon Press.

This small book by Weatherhead is one the best books which I have read on theodicy-God, pain and evil. The book is written for the ordinary Christian and is, therefore, useful for gifts to those who are presently suffering. Here are some of the questions answered by Weatherhead in this book:

Does God want me to be ill?

Does God allow me to suffer?

Why should suffering occur to me?

Is suffering just a bit of bad luck?

These, and other questions are seriously treated in a reverent way by Weatherhead. I would like to highly recommend this book to any person who is suffering or has suffered and has a tendency to question the goodness of God because of it. Although the book is written from a modernist point of view, it presents an explanation of God and evil in this world. Purchase several copies and give them to your friends in the hospital; the book will say more to them than a bouquet of flowers.

Truth Magazine, XX:1, p. 2

By Mike Willis

With this issue, volume twenty of Truth Magazine will come to a close. Throughout the past twenty years, the pages of this journal have been filled with instruction pertaining to issues within the church in an effort to remind Christians that one must have Bible authority for all which he says and does. Truth Magazine began during the fight against institutionalism and the sponsoring church concept. For some years now, the lines have been pretty clearly drawn between the “liberal” and “conservative” churches; both groups have taken their stand and headed their separate ways.

In recent years, other issues have surfaced which have also had to be exposed as having their origin with the Devil. Hence, in recent years, the pages of this periodical have been filled with materials exposing the grace-unity heresy as propagated by Carl Ketcherside, Leroy Garrett, etc. Churches and preachers have been made aware of the existence of this heresy and have taken up the fight against it. Frankly, those of us who are associated with this paper are honored to have served the Lord in exposing this heresy through this teaching medium.

As we bring this year to a close, it is particularly important that I say “Thank You” to those who have helped us so much in the past.

Again this year, we owe Jeff Kingry a debt of gratitude because of the work which he has done in preparing the index to this volume of the magazine. The material which appears in the bound volumes of any paper is only as valuable as it is accessible; without the index which Jeff has prepared for us, the bound volume would be less useful than it presently is. Using the index to the bound volumes, one can locate any article quickly either by knowing the subject matter or the author’s name. Jeff, thank you for preparing this index for us. One word of thanks needs to be expressed to our writers as well. If the ones who contribute articles to Truth Magazine failed to do so, we would have nothing worthwhile to publish. Hence, we want to thank our writers for the fine material which they have sent to us. We would like to also invite others to send us articles for future use; we shall get them into print as soon as possible.

Truth Magazine XX: 51, p. 804
December 23, 1976

By Cecil Willis

In our extended study of conversion, we have but one motive in mind. We want to learn what men and women did in New Testament times in order to get the forgiveness of their sins, for we know that the same law that governed them still governs us today, Therefore, one must do the same thing to be saved today that men and women did in New Testament times.

Every case of conversion in the New Testament follows a certain pattern. Insofar as commandments are concerned, God makes no exceptions for men, regardless of their popularity or power. All must obey the same commandments. And if one who claims to be converted today should find that his so-called conversion transpired in a manner different from conversions in the Bible, he knows assuredly that he was not converted, but was deceived. God is not making a special case out of you or me.

Every time God gave a commandment He gave the rules to be followed in carrying out the commandment. When God commanded Noah to build an ark to avert destruction by the flood, God specified how the ark was to be built. It was to be constructed of a specific kind of wood, gopher wood, and was to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high, with one door and one window. These were the rules to be followed in complying with God’s command.

We find that a number of years after God told Noah to build the ark, He told Moses how the tabernacle was to be built. “This pattern fills three chapters of the book of Exodus and relates not only to the dimensions and apartments of the tabernacle, but also to its materials and furniture, its pillars and its coverings, its curtains and its fastenings; the most explicit directions being given with reference even to the smallest things pertaining to this unique structure” (B.F. Manire, Conversion, pg. 54). Then God exhorted Moses, “See . . . that thou make all things according to the pattern that was shown thee in the mount” (Heb. 8:5).

After the Israelites entered into Palestine, Solomon gathered about him the world’s most skilled builders, and according to the precise instructions of his father David, he guided the building of the temple.

Then when God’s spiritual house, the church, made up of living stones, came to be constructed, God’s wisdom is made known to us by the holy apostles in order that God’s rules in regard to the building of the church may by carefully followed. The church is adequately described in the Scriptures, and any organization that does not measure favorably in the light of the divine rules, is not the church of the Lord.

God also wanted people to be converted, for the spiritual house of God, the church, consists of converted people. There may be people who are nominally on a church roll who have never obeyed the Gospel. But in God’s sight, only these individuals who have sincerely submitted to the instructions of Christ and his inspired helpers are members of the church of the Lord. God wants all men to be converted. We have seen that God has always given rules to be followed in doing what He wants done. God’s desire that men be converted is no different. God has given certain rules of conversion, and these rules we want to study.

The Witnesses

Just prior to Christ’s ascension back into heaven, He gave the Great Commission. There were certain inspired men who heard Him proclaim the great salvation. They were witnesses to Christ’s declaration. These men who were to be witnesses of Christ had been chosen, trained, commissioned by Christ, and finally Christ sent the Holy Spirit upon them to endue them with power. They were especially chosen men, and were given special powers by God to confirm their word as they went forth.

Just prior to Christ’s ascension, they asked, “Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath set within his own authority. But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:68). Again in 2 Pet. 1:16,17, Peter declared that he was an eyewitness of these things. Incidentally, we might observe that it is absurd for one to declare that he is one of “Jehovah’s witnesses” when he was not an eyewitness as were Peter and the other apostles. We may recite the testimony of the witnesses, but we are not Jehovah’s witnesses as were the apostles. But to call ourselves by a title given to those who were eyewitnesses is no worse than many denominationalists do. They claim the power that God gave to His specially chosen witnesses, One might just as well claim the name that God gave His witnesses, or one might as well call himself “Jehovah’s Witness” as to claim he can perform the miracles that God enabled His witnesses to do. But to do either or both is wrong.

These inspired witnesses who heard Jesus tell them what to preach ought to know what the God-given rules of conversion are. So let us turn to the testimony of the inspired writers. We want to consider the testimony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Matthew quoted Jesus as saying, “Go ye therefore, and make disciples (teach, K.J.V.) of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:19, 20). Mark’s testimony reads, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned” (Mk. 16: 15, 16). Luke’s account reads, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24: 46, 47). This is the testimony of the witnesses. In their statement of what Jesus said, we see that the preacher has something to do in converting people; the sinner has something to do in his own conversion; and God is the One who grants the remission of sins. Let us study the rules of conversion by studying the responsibility of each of these separately.

The Duty of the Preacher

If you will notice carefully what each of the three witnesses say, you will see what the duty of the preacher is. Matthew records Jesus’ statement in which the preacher is told to make disciples of all nations (A.S.V.). The King James translation reads “Go ye therefore and teach all nations.” Mark says, “Go ye therefore and preach the gospel to every creature.” Luke says, “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” The work of the preacher in one’s conversion is that of preaching the Gospel of Christ. In fact, this duty is the responsibility of every Christian, and the magnitude of our obligation should be clear when we see that we are to preach the Gospel to every creature. A tremendous task! But as we learn God’s rules of conversion from the mouth of these three eyewitnesses to the giving of the Great Commission, we learn that this coincides perfectly with Paul’s declaration in which he says, “it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). So in the conversion of the souls of men and women, the task of the preacher is to preach the Gospel.

The Duty of the Sinner

But in conversion, it should be, and usually is, recognized by all that the duty is not all the preacher’s. Faithful Gospel preachers could spend their lifetime preaching, and not a soul would be saved unless the sinner recognizes that he has a duty also. In these three records of the Great Commission we are studying, the sinner’s duty is clearly defined. The preacher is to preach the Gospel. The Gospel consists of certain commandments that one must obey. Of course this is not the whole of the Gospel story, but it is a definite part of it. No one will share in the blessings promised in the Gospel who does not obey the commandments of the Gospel.

Remember also that it is merely the business of the preacher to proclaim what God said. It is not the business of the authority of the preacher to alter a single commandment that God has given to us. The preacher must preach the Gospel; the sinner must obey the Gospel. As we read again Christ’s statement as recorded by Matthew, we hear Christ saying, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” In this instance, Matthew says the sinner is to be baptized. In Mark’s record, Jesus says, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” In Mark’s account we see that two conditions precede one’s salvation. One must believe and be baptized in order to be saved. Remember that man did not make this statement; Jesus did, and that this is the same statement by which you will one day be judged. Luke adds, “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations.”

In these three passages we see the duty of the alien sinner stated. He must believe in Jesus Christ, repent of his sins, and be baptized. No man lives who has the authority to promise an unbeliever salvation. No man lives who has the authority to promise an impentitent believer salvation. No man lives who has the authority to promise an unbapztized penitent believer salvation. But the Lord Jesus, who has all authority, tenderly promises to save those who believe, repent and are baptized. There will not be a person saved who has lived in the Christian dispensation who has not done these things.

God’s Part

God has conditioned certain blessings on man’s obedience, Mark says that he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Luke says that repentance and remission of sins are to be preached in Jesus’ name. These are the great blessings ihat we can enjoy through Christ our Lord. No greater blessing could be ours than the forgiveness of our sins. No greater curse could come upon man than for him to die guilty of sin. No greater privilege could be extended to us than the opportunity to have our sins forgiven. We could picture no more wonderful home than the one Jesus has prepared in heaven.

We need to constantly be reminded that what happens to us in judgment will be up to us. God has provided a plan of salvation that is broad enough in scope to include all men, but God has not promised to save a single person unconditionally. He has stipulated certain rules of conversion. There will be no conversion except these rules are followed. Regardless of how good, or how saved you may feel, let me assure you that if you did not follow the rules we have studied this week or in previous weeks as they were expressed by our Lord, you have not been converted! The Lord will not permit you to substitute a plan of salvation of your own for the one that He has given.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the witnesses have faithfully told us what Jesus said for us to do. Gospel preachers are diligently trying to teach people God’s way of salvation. If we preach what Jesus said, people can be saved by obeying it. Unsaved people must do the duty the Great Commission enjoins upon them. You must believe, repent and be baptized. You are not, nor will you ever be, saved before you do this! But when you comply with the rules of conversion, you can assuredly know that God, who promised eternal life will keep His promise. But you may also know that if you die without obeying the Gospel, that the same God promised to take vengeance on those who obey not the Gospel, and He will also keep that promise.

The most important decision you will ever make in this life will be the decision to become a Christian by obeying the rules of conversion. Have you done that?

Truth Magazine XX: 51, pp. 802-803
December 23, 1976